Find Your North Star Metric
A free 5-minute diagnostic that tells you the single metric your SaaS should run on, based on the variables that actually matter — archetype, sales motion, monetization unit, free-tier mechanic, revenue stage, ACV, and usage cadence.
What this tool does
We score 14 candidate North Star Metrics against your context using a deterministic engine derived from the canonical frameworks (Sean Ellis, Amplitude's North Star Framework, Lenny Rachitsky's empirical survey, Brian Balfour's constellation critique). The result is one recommendation with a 90-day plan to validate it.
How it works
- Context — 7 questions about your business (~3 minutes)
- Hypothesis — pick the metric you think it should be, or admit you're not sure
- Pressure test — 4 questions stress-test your hypothesis
- Analysis — the engine scores every eligible NSM against your context
- Brief — your recommended metric with driver tree, counter-metric, 90-day plan, and the agent that watches it
The 14 metrics we consider
Revenue: Net MRR Retention · Gross MRR Retention · MRR · MRR Movement · Customer Lifetime Value
Customer Growth: Active Free Subscriptions · Trial to Paid Conversion · Paid Seats · Paid Active Teams
Consumption Growth: Gross Merchandise Value · Consumption Volume
Engagement Growth: Weekly Active Users · Engagement Time
Growth Efficiency: LTV:CAC Ratio
What you get back
A personalized brief with:
- Your recommended North Star Metric with rationale
- A driver tree showing what moves it
- A counter-metric to defend against over-optimization
- A 90-day validation plan (Week 1, Weeks 2–4, Weeks 5–12)
- The North Metric agent matched to your weakest input
- Downloadable 5-page PDF
When to use it
- You're a SaaS founder picking your first North Star Metric
- You're at a stage transition (early → growth, growth → mature)
- Your team is debating which metric should run the weekly leadership meeting
- You want a defensible recommendation backed by canonical frameworks